Seven Alabama delegates for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election have endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) for the Senate seat now held by Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL), including Alabama State Representative Ed Henry, who was the chairman of Trump’s campaign in that state.
“I worked tirelessly to get Donald Trump elected because I saw the need to bust up the status quo in D.C. For that same reason I am supporting Mo Brooks,” Henry told Breitbart News.
“He is a man of character, willing to sacrifice his own political capitol to do what is best for America,” Henry said. “We will not continue to be the greatest country the world has ever known if we continue to send self-serving politicians to D.C. like our current Senator Strange.”
“I think this campaign’s mainly about issues and ethics,” Bradley Williams, another Trump delegate in Alabama, said during the endorsement announcement in Alabama on Wednesday and reported by AL.com. “For the past seven months I know Congressman Brooks has been working hand and hand with the president.”
“I believe his ethics are impeccable,” Williams said. “I believe Luther Strange’s ethics speak for themselves.”
AL.com reported that Williams was referring to the fact that Strange — then attorney general — was appointed to the Senate by then-Gov. Robert Bentley earlier this year to replace now U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which could be deemed as improper because Strange’s office was at the time investigating Bentley.
But support for Strange — and a concerted effort to defeat Brooks — is coming from Washington, D.C. via the Senate Leadership Fund and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Super PAC’s website is filled with derogatory claims against Brooks, who is described there as being anti-Trump, pro-immigrant, and against defeating Islamic terrorists — all stances denied by Brooks and supported by a deeper dive into his record in the House.
Meanwhile, Brooks said he hopes the endorsements will help him win the Alabama Senate seat, according to AL.com. Brooks said:
These people coming together I hope will help prove to the people of the state of Alabama that when it comes to choosing for the United States Senate, the person who is most likely to advance America First agenda — to make America Great, President Trump’s legislative agenda — that candidate is Congressman Mo Brooks, and you know that from the record that I’ve established in the United States Congress.
Brooks also criticized the attack ads being mounted against him by his fellow Republicans as well as the funding from the Senate GOP super PAC. He said:
The kind of butchery that Luther Strange has engaged in in assaulting my character and my reputation, and assaulting the good character and name of Judge Roy Moore … and quite frankly I think America and Alabama in particular, we’re getting tired of Luther Strange thinking that the way to get elected is to drag everyone else through the mud.
Brooks also received support from the Alabama Strike Force — volunteers organized by the state GOP who campaigned for Trump in the crucial swing state of Florida, AL.com reported.
“I know that [Brooks] will help further President Trump’s agenda,” a Strike Force member said.